Study on Public Mutual Berhad in Malaysia Finance Essay

Public Mutual Berhad (Public Mutual) is the largest private unit trust company in Malaysia and currently manages more than 70 funds with total NAV of more than RM35.2 billion for more than 2,300,000 accountholders. Incorporated in July 1975, Public Mutual began its operations in 1980 with the launch of the Public Savings Fund, and soon went on to become an industry leader and setting forth new trends in innovative fund development. 1)investment objectives of public mutual To achieve long term capital appreciation while at the same time producing a reasonable level of income. Public Islamic Bond Fund was launched with the objective of providing annual income to investors through investments in Islamic Debt Securities.

The fund is suitable for investors with conservative risk-reward temperament who seek stability of annual income with some safety of principal. To provide income and capital growth over the medium to long -term period by investing the equities, collective investment scheme and fixed income securities in domestic and global market. To help more Malaysians plan their personal finances Your investment style should match you financial objectives. If it doesn’t, you should see professional help in dealing with investment choices that match you financial objectives. 2) Financial risk Management policies : The fund is exposed to variety of financial risk, which include market risk, interest rate risk, credit risk and liquidity risk. The overall financial risk management objective of the fund is to mitigate capital losses. Financial risk management is carried out through policy reviews, internal control systems and adherence to the investment powers and restrictions stipulated in the securities commissions guidelines on Unit Trust Funds in Malaysia. A unit trust fund is expected to a verity of risk by nature of investment schemes it in engaged in. Where the unit trust participate in stock market -related investment, the following risks become key considered Market Risk Market risk arises when the values of the securities fluctuates in response to the activities of individual companies, and general market or economic conditions. the market risk is managed through portfolio diversification and asset allocation whereby the securities exposure will be reduced in the event of anticipated market weaknesses. Interest Rate Risk Interest rates move in the opposite direction of bond prices. When the interest rates rise, bond prices fall and vice versa.

When interest rate trend is anticipated to rise, the exposure to fixed income securities will be reduced. Credit risk Credit risk refers to the ability of an issuer or counterparty to make timely payments of interest, principles and proceeds from realization of investments.

The manager manages the credit risk by setting counterparty limits and undertaking credit evaluation to minimize such risk. Liquidity risk The fund maintains sufficient level of liquid assets after consultation with the trustee, to meet anticipated payments and cancellation of unit holders. Liquid assets comprise cash, deposits and placement with licensed financial institutions and other instruments, which are capable of being converted into cash within 7 days. the funds policy is to always maintain a prudent level of liquid asset so as to reduce the liquidity risk. Currency Risk The fund may invest in financial instruments and enter into transactions denominated in currencies other than its functional currency.

Consequently ,the fund is exposed to risk that the exchange rate of its functional currency relative to other foreign currencies may change in a manner that has significant effect on the value of that portion of the fund’s assets or liabilities denominated in currencies than Malaysian Ringgit 3) The fund manager may adopt various investment strategies, such as varying the asset allocation to adjust the risk and return characteristics of the fund., however should the fund manager judge market conditions incorrectly or apply an unsuitable investment strategy, the performance of the fund may be adversely effected 4) The fund is subject to the following constraints in the course of execution of its investment policies and strategies : Spread of investments The value of the funds holding in: The share capital of any single user must be exceed 10 percent of NAV;and The securities /instruments of ,and the securities /instruments relating to Spread; group of companies Concentration of investments 5) The general economy outlook of Malaysia for 2010 The world economy has recovered since the 4Q09 following numerous national policy measures, which enhanced private demand and global trade condition. However, the recovery path is uneven with developing Asia leading global growth, while advanced nations trailing behind. The strong economic expansion from developing Asia was led by China, India, and Indonesia with their relatively large domestic demand. Policymakers have begun to normalize policy rates, given rising inflation expectations and the emergence of asset bubbles. The Malaysian economy is still expected to benefit from ongoing global measures to stabilize its current economic situations through effective fiscal measures and loose monetary policy as a soft growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is projected to register between 2%-3% in 2010. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) expects Malaysia’s economy to return to growth in 2010¹. According to Alianz Group Chief Economist – Michael Heise, Malaysia’s economy is expected to see a solid growth of 3.5% in 2010². Growth this year will be driven by domestic demand, particularly the private expenditure which driven by expected recovery in world trade (refer to Comparison of Quarterly GDP Rate 2008-2009³). For 2010 as a whole, nevertheless, Malaysia’s GDP is expected to register at least in soft positive territory.

Accordingly, the Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy has been hit robustly by the downturn in world trade, probably the worst economy since the 1930s, ensued from the financial crisis in U.S. and other developed countries as booming exports had been the major driver of Malaysian economic growth in recent years. For 2010, we are forecasting a fairly soft GDP growth of 3% for the emerging Asian countries such as China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore. The services sector will be the pillar of strength amidst a glum manufacturing sector. Apart from the projected moderate improvement in the G3 economies of Europe, Japan and U.S., the key reasons for a soft recovery in Malaysia due to its relatively strong fiscal and monetary stimulus policies, large currency reserves and current account surpluses.

More importantly, Malaysia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose in December 2009 for the first time in seven months as food and housing costs re-climbed coupled with Malaysia’s historic auto sales rose 33% (50,622 units, Jan 10; 38,107 units, Jan ’09) year-on-year in January 2010 which underpinned Malaysia’s economic recovery. ¹Business Times, February 26, 2010 ²Bernama, May 29, 2009 ³Department of Statistics Malaysia, December 2009 Business Week, January 25, 2010 Daily Express, February 24, 2010 Disadvantages of Mutual Funds

• Professional Management – Many investors debate whether or not the professionals are any better than you or I at picking stocks. Management is by no means infallible, and, even if the fund loses money, the manager still gets paid.

• Costs – Creating, distributing, and running a mutual fund is an expensive proposition. Everything from the manager’s salary to the investors’ statements cost money. Those expenses are passed on to the investors. Since fees vary widely from fund to fund, failing to pay attention to the fees can have negative long-term consequences.

Remember, every dollar spend on fees is a dollar that has no opportunity to grow over time. (Learn how to escape these costs in Stop Paying High Mutual Fund Fees.)

• Dilution – It’s possible to have too much diversification. Because funds have small holdings in so many different companies, high returns from a few investments often don’t make much difference on the overall return.

Dilution is also the result of a successful fund getting too big. When money pours into funds that have had strong success, the manager often has trouble finding a good investment for all the new money.

• Taxes – When a fund manager sells a security, a capital-gains tax is triggered. Investors who are concerned about the impact of taxes need to keep those concerns in mind when investing in mutual funds. Taxes can be mitigated by investing in tax-sensitive funds or by holding non-tax sensitive mutual fund in a tax-deferred account, such as a 401(k) or IRA. (Learn about one type of tax-deferred fund in Money Market Mutual Funds: A Better Savings Account.) recap what we’ve learned in this tutorial: A mutual fund brings together a group of people and invests their money in stocks, bonds, and other securities.

The advantages of mutuals are professional management, diversification, economies of scale, simplicity and liquidity. The disadvantages of mutuals are high costs, over-diversification, possible tax consequences, and the inability of management to guarantee a superior return. There are many, many types of mutual funds. You can classify funds based on asset class, investing strategy, region, etc. Mutual funds have lots of costs.

Costs can be broken down into ongoing fees (represented by the expense ratio) and transaction fees (loads). The biggest problems with mutual funds are their costs and fees. Mutual funds are easy to buy and sell. You can either buy them directly from the fund company or through a third party. Mutual fund ads can be very deceiving.

Credit Risk Is also called default risk, is the chance that issuer will fail to make interest payments to pay back your principal when your bond matures. Currency risk It comes into play if money s to be converted to a different currency to purchase or sell an investment.

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